The man who helped lead the Rangers end a 54-year Stanley Cup drought in 1994 completed the New York City marathon today in a time of four hours, 14 minutes and 21 seconds. More, from the New York Daily News:

Messier, 50, achieved his goal of finishing in under 4:30, validating the hundreds of miles he ran to train for Sunday.

After finishing the race and raising money for two charities — Tomorrow’s Children’s Fund and Answer the Call, which supports the surviving families of 9/11 first responders – Messier leaned on a railing by the finish line and asked to sit down, said Mary Wittenberg, the CEO of the New York Road Runners, the marathon organizer.

He was then escorted to a TV studio and rested for approximately five minutes before going to the medical tent.

Clearly, 26.2 miles can be tougher than a hockey playoff game.

Messier later said he was dizzy following the race but, after heading home to rest in his Manhattan abode, claimed he was feeling “great” and “filled up with inspiration.”

It should be noted that Messier’s biggest result of the day might not have been finishing in under 4:30, but beating a bunch of notable celebrities. They include former Manchester United goalie Edwin Vander Sar (4:19:16) supermodel Christy Turlington (4:20:47) and “actor” Mario Lopez (4:23:30). The fact that a 50-year-old Messier was able to top A.C. Slater in an athletic competition really throws everything I thought I knew about Saved by the Bell into arrears. Is it possible Slater wasn’t as good a wrestler as the show depicted? Was Zack actually not all that great at track? I feel so disenchanted.

Oh, and in case you were wondering — Messier isn’t the first ex-Ranger to run the NYC Marathon. He beat former teammate Adam Graves’ 2006 time by 13 minutes, but fell short of Mike Richter’s time of 3:54:34 in 2007.